Google’s secretive Google[X] lab is testing a smart contact lens for diabetics, the company said in a blog post Thursday. Using a wireless chip and miniature glucose sensor embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material, the lenses are designed to measure glucose levels in tears. The prototypes being tested can generate a reading once per second.

Google hopes the lenses can help diabetics regulate their blood sugar levels more effectively and avoid having to test their blood with finger pricks throughout the day. But, the company said, “there’s still a lot more work to do to turn this technology into a system that people can use.”

In December, four Google executives met with the FDA, according to a schedule that was posted online. Among them was Andrew Conrad, the former chief scientist of blood-screening company LabCorp. Also in attendance was Brian Otis, of the University of Washington, who shares a patent issued last month for a wireless-powered contact lens with an integrated glucose sensor that was issued last month.